Miss America vows to fight child sexual abuse

PublishedJanuary 15, 2013

As the newly minted Miss America, Mallory Hagan will spend the next year reigning as America's beauty queen. She'll also use that time to help educate others about childhood sexual abuse, its effects and how to prevent it. The 23-year-old New Yorker told reporters she was inspired by her mother, Mandy Moore, who is a sexual abuse survivor.

Hagan, who won the crown Saturday night in Las Vegas, has talked openly about how the abuse had long-term effects on her mother, and also has discussed the "rippling effect" the abuse had on other women in the family, including Hagan's grandmother, aunt and cousins. Having witnessed the long-term effects first-hand, Hagan has made it her mission to make child sexual abuse education mandatory in all 50 states. Her ambition is the perfect accompaniment to Erin's Law, which also aims to make education about child sexual abuse prevention mandatory in schools.

During her tenure as Miss New York, Hagan already has partnered with such organizations as Darkness to Light, Stop It Now! and Safe Horizon to increase awareness and boost education. She'll spend the next year sharing her story, as well as those of the women in her family, as part of her message.